The Chemistry of Water
by KiraElf
Summary: Hydrogen is over it's one-sided love, but is it strong enough to surmount the unbreakable covalent bond?


A/N:

hey guys ! it's kira elf here bringing you our first fic. just to let you know, hydrogen and hhydrogen are different characters. they represent the two hydrogen atoms in a water molecule. in this story, hydrogen is our protagonist. thanks, read on and enjoy!

* * *

Hydrogen stared dejectedly at Oxygen and HHydrogen, and sighed in longing. They were sitting closely together on the couch, snuggling as they watched a documentary explaining the chemistry of water.

Hydrogen wished they could be the one entangled in Oxygen's arms, instead of cooking dinner for all three of them. What made it worse was knowing that when it finished cooking and called them both to eat, Oxygen would untangle itself from HHydrogen and hug Hydrogen, and whisper sweet thank yous into the latter's ear. Oxygen made it seem like everything would be okay again, but Hydrogen knew it wasn't. But Hydrogen would immediately forgive it, and fall in love all over again. Hydrogen would stare adoringly at Oxygen, as if it had hung the moon.

Then they would all sit down to eat, and they did. The two hydrogens sat opposite Oxygen, to keep things fair. Oxygen spoke to both of them, and made them feel loved. Hydrogen would forget its insecurities, and feel ecstatic, a wide grin on its face as it basked in the glow of Oxygen's equal and undying love, as it did each night. Its eyes would be glistening, shining in affection for its beloved.

Then, dinner would be over, and the glow would slowly fade, yet its love would never waver in strength. Hydrogen would be stuck in the kitchen cleaning up, forced to see the display of love Oxygen unfairly showered upon HHydrogen, the love that was only for HHydrogen, that love Hydrogen never seemed to be able to touch.

That night, Hydrogen lay in bed, cold and alone. Oxygen and HHydrogen were right there next to him, but Hydrogen had never felt so isolated. Oxygen lay curled up with HHydrogen, back facing Hydrogen. It stared bitterly at Oxygen's strong and tanned arms in pining. Why couldn't they hug _Hydrogen_ so sweetly like that, and cover _it_ in a warm cocoon of love?

Shivering in the cool wintry air, Hydrogen curled up into a ball, beads of sorrowful moisture gathering underneath its eyelids. As it wistfully nursed its grief-stricken heart into a deep-seated slumber, the last thing it remembered before it fell to the deep confines of sleep was a single tear, gradually rolling down its cheek.

* * *

As dawn broke, the sun seeped through the edges of their thin, pale curtains that had seen better days. Hydrogen, staring unseeingly through the window, was suddenly struck with a sharp realisation. It was time to find a new partner, as it knew Oxygen would be fine without it anyway.

 _Oh Oxygen... it was so... positive._

Even Hydrogen's one electron spent more time with Oxygen than with its rightful owner. It could just draw others to it, and was so kind and upbeat all the time. It had a natural allure, one that couldn't be copied or imitated. No, that was Oxygen's personality, and everyone seemed to love it.

Shaking its head and gathering up its resolve, Hydrogen left the bed in solitary, comforted by its determination.

On a normal day, it would wake Oxygen with a kiss and light cuddle, but today it couldn't bring itself to do so after making the spontaneous decision. It hurried about and swiftly made itself a modest breakfast, leaving a quick, vague note on the table.

 _Sorry, I'll be out for a bit._

It gathered its belongings for the day and attempted to head out. It was extremely hard to leave. As the documentary stated the night before, covalent bonds were immensely strong and near impossible to break. And so, it was with great effort and willpower that Hydrogen left that early morning.

* * *

The day passed in a blur. Hydrogen's phone was turned off, in order to mute the calls it secretly hoped it would receive from a worried Oxygen. It was also to stop the temptation of running back to Oxygen and its former lifestyle, but ultimately, Hydrogen knew it was from an inherent fear that, maybe Oxygen wouldn't notice at all. Wouldn't call. Wouldn't care.

Hydrogen didn't want to know, and sat numbly below the clock tower in the center of the busy, bustling town. Despite it being quite late, many people were still out, enjoying their lives as if their smiles were permanently painted onto their faces. Hydrogen scoffed to itself, but paused and realised that Oxygen had perhaps turned it into a resentful creature.

Abruptly, Hydrogen heard the great, echoing ringing of a bell and snapped back into reality. It was 6:30 and Hydrogen had a date. Well, not really, more like it hoped to find one tonight.

* * *

Hydrogen entered the large diner. All of a sudden, the pulsing heat and ringing noise crashed over it like a wave. Hydrogen faltered weakly. The sounds of joyful communication filled the room, punctuated with short bouts of occasional laughter. Hydrogen was by itself, lonesome despite being surrounded by groups of people.

Hydrogen maneuvered around the numerous tables to an empty seat in the corner of the diner, half-shrouded in shadow, and waited for the evening to start. It stared absentmindedly around the venue, feeling safe in its secure location at the edge of the room.

As if on cue, at 7 o'clock on the dot, a charismatic emcee swaggered up to the microphone, swinging the object nonchalantly in its long, slender fingers. Its presence seemed magnetic, the crowd falling into a resounding hush. The microphone was then perched precariously between its front digits, and a smooth, deep voice filtered through the air.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Atoms and Ions, welcome to a night of fun and socialising!"

It was Lithium, an old friend of Hydrogen's. Back when Hydrogen was living alone in its miniscule apartment, Lithium was a bubbly ray of sunshine in dark, lonely days. As cliché as it sounded, it was true. It was as if Lithium had held a bright torch of hope in its days of desolation. Lithium: intellectually gifted, suave, and popular. Everyone wanted to talk to it, have just an ear of its time, but it had chosen to stay with Hydrogen. It had been a tearful parting when Lithium moved out of the apartment underneath Hydrogen's to live with its new ionic bond mate.

Lithium cleared its throat and, a few cheesy jokes later, began the proceedings. With a steely glint to its eyes, Hydrogen left its silent safe haven at the brink of the mob. It stepped out of its comfort zone, and carefully sat down into a soft, plush loveseat in the heart of the room.

Without warning, the empty seat next to him was taken up by a young noble gas atom. Hydrogen was very surprised, and with good reason. Noble gases rarely interacted with other atoms, preferring to spend their Royal time in solitude. Hydrogen gathered up its courage, and slowly opened its mouth.

"Uh... hi. Its nice to meet you, I'm Hydrogen."

That small introduction seemed to kick start the conversation. Neon was nice enough, Hydrogen supposed. It was quiet but seemed to glow in different colours depending what it was talking about. Privately, Hydrogen thought Neon looked like multiple vibrant glow sticks intertwined together into an atom.

Hydrogen genuinely enjoyed their conversation as it had been a while since it had talked to someone new, but no matter how hard it tried, a noble gas was still a noble gas. Neon was amiable and intensely shone from within, but also unreachable and distant, surrounded by 10 whirling electrons. Their 10 minutes flew past, and at the conclusion of their brief meeting Hydrogen waved goodbye, its goal of finding a date making no more progress than 10 minutes before.

The next rotation started, and then the next and the next and the next. They all began to blend into each other, no single atom making more of an impression than their predecessor. Time seemed to speed up, Hydrogen only recalling fleeting greetings and farewells.

As the end of the night drew near, Hydrogen picked up its bag and looked down at the illuminating screen of its phone, specifically at the list of contacts it had made. The only number listed belonged to Neon. Maybe Neon could teach him how to survive the crippling loneliness and heartache it felt when it saw Oxygen and HHydrogen together.

It stood near the back of the diner, waiting for the throng at the door to disperse so it could begin its long, dreaded journey home. A faint tap on its shoulder caused him to turn around, and the sight that met its eyes made him break out into a toothy beam.

"Lithium, its been a while."

"Too long!" Lithium agreed with enthusiasm.

Lithium pulled Hydrogen into a warm bear hug that was uniquely Lithium, and Hydrogen melted into the hug. It really had been too long, and staying behind to chat with an old friend was the perfect excuse to prolong going home and confronting its bond mate.

Hydrogen felt relaxed and soothed in the presence of its old best friend, but as they continued talking about their lives Hydrogen couldn't help but realise with gut-wrenching certainty that they were no longer as close as they were, and that the inevitable rift caused by time had greatly widened since they last talked.

When Lithium asked why Hydrogen was at an event like this it didn't reply with the truth, but instead ambiguously responded, "Why, I could ask the same of you," and laughed.

Finally, the time had come for them to part once again. Hydrogen waved morosely and strided out into the chilly night. Saddened by the realisation that the next time they met the rift between them would have grown even bigger, it was with heavy feet and a heavy heart that it returned home.

* * *

Standing outside its front door it couldn't help but be nervous. It rocked back on its feet, contemplating the possibilities. Would they care that it was missing the whole day? Or would they have just used the opportunity to have more fun without it?

After standing outside for a few minutes the sharp wind got the better of it and it was forced to gather its courage. It was with clammy palms and and trembling hands that it reached for the doorknob. It had never felt so nervous walking into its own home before.

Hydrogen anxiously tiptoed into the living room and caught snippets of the monotonous sound of a TV. It frowned, forehead wrinkled in chagrin. It knew it would be silly to ask them to wait for an entire day, but it was a little discouraging to think they could just relax like that, seemingly without a care in the world.

Hydrogen's heart sunk out of its chest and into the floor when it saw HHydrogen's mop of hair resting on Oxygen's wide chest, both pairs of eyes closed in bliss as they napped peacefully together on the couch.

 _They must have fallen asleep while watching another one of their documentaries,_ it thought bitterly.

Hydrogen pulled out its phone, with a small hope riding on possible missed call notifications, but was incredibly disappointed to not find a single message. It looked at the cute scene in front of it and felt tears rapidly pricking its eyes.

Hydrogen was once again heartbroken. It started to mull over how many times it had been, how many times it had hid its pain all for the sake of _their_ happiness.

The silence in the room crashed down on it, suffocating it in absolute certainty; the missing presence of love, care, and tenderness almost becoming too much for Hydrogen to bear.

Hydrogen felt the sobs building up in its chest, and in its haste to leave the room as to not wake the devoted pair up, completely missed the note that lay innocently on the table beside the quietly snoring Oxygen. If Hydrogen had taken the time to look at it, it would have seen Oxygen's sprawling, loopy handwriting that read:

 _Where were you? We missed you today~!_

 _Wake me up when you get home, babe 3_

By the time Hydrogen saw it the next morning, the damage had already been done. It had already cried out its love last night. The sadness and despair had been so deeply ingrained into its soul that it doubted anyone could help it anymore. Hydrogen was too tired, too empty, too hurt and too scarred to rediscover its love for Oxygen. Sardonically, Hydrogen thought it must have drained out of its body somewhere in with the buckets of tears it had shed.

* * *

When Oxygen next opened its eyes that morning, it found another note.

It simply read:

 _Goodbye._

* * *

A/N:

HELLO

This is our first fic! Whoop whoop! Um well I consider myself to be a very happy person so idk where all this angst came from. This time I (e) made the plot and can I just say 's' made what I sorta wrote into an actual story. She is such a good editor that she even tried to edit my author's note. Ily!

Anyway, enjoy!

~~~~~~e~~~~~~

hii ! i'm so thankful y'all have decided to read our fic, we give you much love 3 i hope you enjoyed the concept we've fiddled around with and honestly, idk how this fic was born, but i'm rlly proud of this 'lil oneshot we've made. e was the main author, and i'm so glad she was here as i could have never written this by myself. we're both amateurs, and are open to any feedback you are willing to give us, but please don't be too harsh!

ilysm and until next time,

-s


End file.
